The present invention relates generally to support racks for supporting trays and pans in oven chambers and the like, and more particularly to a novel adjustable support rack for mounting on an upstanding sidewall of an oven chamber to facilitate support of trays and pans of different lateral widths.
It is a common practice in the food industry to prepare food products for baking or cooking in an oven by placing one or more of the food products in a pan or on a tray which is then inserted into an oven chamber or compartment so that laterally opposite marginal edges of the pan or tray are supported on horizontal support racks secured to or formed integral with laterally opposed upstanding sidewalls of the oven chamber. Because the oven chamber has a fixed lateral width, and since the support racks are conventionally formed integral with or secured in relatively fixed relation to the laterally opposed sidewalls, the pans and trays must be made to the same lateral width to enable edge support within the same oven chamber. Pans and trays having different lateral widths cannot be supported in a normal manner in the same oven chamber. For example, commercial steamer pans generally have a lateral width of approximately 20 inches, a front-to-back or transverse width of approximately 12 inches, and a vertical depth of approximately 2.5 inches. Steam chambers in many commercial steamers generally have a lateral width of approximately 20 inches and a front-to-back depth of approximately 26-30 inches, thereby enabling two steamer pans to be supported by their lateral marginal edges on each pair of laterally opposed support rack members.
Commercial baking trays, on the other hand, generally have a lateral width of approximately 18 inches, a front-to-back width of approximately 26 inches, and a vertical depth of approximately 1 inch. Thus, ovens having support racks secured to laterally opposite upstanding sidewalls of their oven chambers for supporting the lateral marginal edges of conventional 20 inch wide steamer pans cannot also support cooking trays having 18 inch lateral widths by their lateral marginal edges, and vice versa.
Prior attempts to support steamer pans and baking trays of different lateral widths within the same oven or steamer chamber have included the use of bridging members which are supported on and extend between laterally opposed pairs of support rack members on the oven chamber sidewalls so that shorter width trays or pans are supported on the bridging members.
It has also been proposed to support different width trays within a food service cart by providing slider members which are secured to slotted uprights within the service cart and formed to establish two horizontal shelf levels, an upper shelf level for wide trays and a lower shelf level for narrower width trays or pans. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,164.
A significant drawback in prior techniques for supporting different width trays or pans within the same oven chamber or compartment, such as by bridging members, is that they entail separate components which may be misplaced and lead to lost operating time in preparing the chamber for supporting narrow or shorter width trays or pans. The prior techniques also frequently require a relatively complex mounting arrangement which does not lend itself to use in food preparation ovens and steamer chambers, such as the aforedescribed double level tray support sliders.